Beyoncé and Jay-Z release official statement on birth of Blue Ivy Carter

“We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, born on Saturday, January 7, 2012,” the couple said in a joint statement Monday. “Her birth was emotional and extremely peaceful – we are in heaven.”

“She was delivered naturally at a healthy 7 lbs.,” the statement says on the birth, which occurred at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC.

“It was the best experience of both of our lives. We are thankful to everyone for all your prayers, well wishes, love and support.”

A few hours after the baby was born, rumors circulated announcing that Beyoncé had received special treatment during her stay at the hospital, renting a whole floor just for her.

“The suggestion that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent an entire maternity floor is simply not true,” Lenox Hill Hospital Executive Director Frank Danza said in a statement Monday.

“The family is housed in an executive suite at the hospital and is being billed the standard rate for those accommodations. Our executive suites are available for any patient, including the food service and amenities provided to the Carter family.”

Another rumor had reported that some visitors didn’t have access to the hospital and therefore could not visit their loved ones because of the system in place for Beyoncé’s delivery.

Frank Danza was quick to deny this information as well: “We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days.”

“No security plan that we or the Carters’ security team put in place would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the NICU, and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU,” he explained.

Jay-Z has released the song “Glory” about the birth of his first child and the couple’s struggle to conceive.